CityFibre delivers digital workshops in partnership with Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society’s ‘Fringe Days Out’ scheme
People of all ages from across the Capital have learned the essentials of the modern digital world and how to stay safe online – thanks to CityFibre’s partnership with the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society. Continue reading CityFibre drives digital inclusion to top of agenda
City Council responds to Government consultation
The City of Edinburgh Council has published its response to the Scottish Government consultation on the regulation of short-term lets in Scotland. The consultation closes on MONDAY.
Continue reading Time’s running out to have your say on short-term lets
The Council is working on getting the balance right, says city council Leader Adam McVey:
Together the festivals create a season and a place like no other, with the cultural benefits giving us access to performers and shows that we’d otherwise have to travel the world to find. Continue reading Managing a Festival City
Thirty-four Edinburgh parks and greenspaces have been recognised as among the best in Scotland by Keep Scotland Beautiful.
The Council has launched a new campaign to combat the problem of inconsiderately-parked vehicles blocking bins meaning they can’t be emptied and overflow.
Continue reading Sin bin for bad parking to help keep Edinburgh clean
“Fresh thinking is turning Edinburgh into a Sustainable Food City”
Bustling, vibrant market gardens in all four corners of the Capital are helping fuel and nourish our population – especially our children and older people – with perfectly fresh, locally grown seasonal produce (writes the city council’s Sustainability Champion, Forth Cllr George Gordon). Continue reading Food for Thought from Edinburgh’s Sustainabilty Champion
It’s a busy summer across the Council’s estate, explains Finance and Resources Convener Cllr Alasdair Rankin:
Edinburgh trades weeks at the start of July is traditionally when many companies literally down tools for the summer holidays – but that’s not the case for our Council estate where building improvements are taking place across the city.
This is very much an all year round operation and our programme of works is significantly larger as a direct result of the decisions we’ve taken as an Administration to invest £119m in the Council estate.
Despite the challenging financial times for the Council this significant investment is a clear sign of our determination to improve the quality, safety and future sustainability of our buildings.
Although the focus in the first two years has been around our schools, our five-year programme includes improvement and maintenance works across the whole estate extending to areas like care homes and office buildings. This year work is planned at Portobello Swim Centre (above), which is managed by Edinburgh Leisure, and the historic City Chambers.
A huge amount of planning has taken place to enable such a wide programme of works to go ahead – this is our most extensive programme ever carried out over summer with almost 100 schools and nurseries being targeted. Works taking place range from general maintenance through to major refurbishment including painting and decorating, major roof repairs, window replacement programmes and lighting, heating and boiler upgrades.
For some schools these summer works mark the start of a major programme to address backlog maintenance requirements identified through our extensive condition surveys carried out across the whole of our estate.
Over 30 of these projects will deliver major improvements and in many cases this work will continue throughout the school year including at evenings and weekends.
For other schools this will be the final phase of works, and our Property and Facilities Management professionals will be working hard with our contractors to ensure that the works in these schools are completed in time for the pupils and staff returning after the summer break.
In addition to these improvements, we are providing additional classrooms to meet our rising school rolls across the City and work will commence on five new nurseries which will open their doors in August 2020 to support us in meeting the extended hours nursery provision for all three and four-year olds.
We are making significant progress with improving our whole estate and I firmly believe this proactive approach, along with further targeted investment, will ensure our buildings are fit for purpose both now and for years to come.
This article first appeared in Edinburgh Evening News
#OpenStreets is back again this Sunday.
A number of streets in the Old Town will be closed to traffic, creating a relaxed, enjoyable atmosphere. Lots of activities will take place throughout the day – find out more at http://bit.ly/2LrFwzs
Edinburgh folk have been given an extra week to have their say on major changes proposed for the city centre.
The Edinburgh City Centre Transformation consultation, which began on 20 May, will now finish at midnight on Sunday, 7 July, instead of Friday, 28 June. Continue reading More time to have your say on City Centre plans
The Lord Provost of Edinburgh is encouraging employers to support Reserves Day tomorrow (Wednesday 26 June).
As the City of Edinburgh Council’s Armed Forces and Veterans Champion, he is urging organisations across the Capital to allow Armed Forces Reservists to wear their uniforms to work on Wednesday.
Reservists make up around one sixth of the UK’s Armed Forces Personnel and give up their spare time to serve in the Reserve Forces, balancing their civilian life with a military career to ensure that should their country require them, they would be ready to serve as part of the military.
Lord Provost Frank Ross said: “As a council we are proud to have signed the Armed Forces Covenant in our own right but I’m really keen that across the city, we acknowledge the dedication, professionalism and commitment of our armed forces.
“I’m proud to support Reserves Day and hope many other Edinburgh organisations will follow suit. Reservists make an incredible contribution to their communities, their organisations and the country. Wear your uniform with pride!”
Edinburgh is home to an estimated 40,000 veterans and ex forces, 1,500 serving personnel and 500 cadets.
The Council is a silver award recognised employer under the Defence Employer Recognition Scheme and supports members of the Reservists and those wishing to join. As part of its Reserve Forces’ training and mobilisation policy, the Council acknowledges the training Reservists undertake and supports the release of all employees mobilised for Reservist duties.
Organisations and Reservists taking part in Reserves Day are encouraged to share photographs on social media of their day at work in uniform, tagging @lordprovostedin.
A consultation is also underway for anyone who might be interested in joining an Armed Forces Community Network. Take part at the Council’s Consultation Hub.
